Startup workers collaborate over ping pong, beer

Why not play a game of pool or have a beer in an unusual work environment?

A morning game of pool is the first sign that Startup City in downtown Des Moines is far from typical.

Startup City is a business incubator serving early-stage tech companies. Christian Renaud is the man in charge.

“Running a startup is a 24-hour job, so it's got to be a 24-hour environment,” said Renaud. Sometimes you need to have an informal chat with somebody over a ping pong table, or a pool table or over a beer.”

That's right. He said beer. And there's the keg in the kitchen.

“Our desk tops are white boards, our walls are white boards, because you never know when inspiration will strike,” said Renaud.

Emma Peterson is the CEO of Tikly, an online paperless ticket company known for charging lower fees for concerts and similar events. Her office is like most here, open and sparse. It’s just enough to get her business off the ground.

“It's very cool that I'm in a space that doesn't limit my ability to accomplish anything,” said Peterson.

Renaud asked a simple question when he designed the unusual office.

What would happen if we just knocked the walls down? Would people collaborate more between teams? And low and behold, it happened,” said Renaud.

It happens at a desk. It happens at a ping pong table. It happens on a sofa in a corner surrounded by big windows where you might normally find an executive office. This is the new normal.

“The creative collisions that occur when you get 12 CEOs in the same physical space, they have a lot they can learn from one another, provided they don't have cubicles or doors between them,” said Renaud.

There are still thousands of cubicles at the Principal Financial office complex downtown, but not for long.

The old way of hiding workers behind six-foot fabric walls is on its way out. Principal just announced a $240 million renovation plan for its downtown office complex.

Wide open spaces will replace rows and rows of cubicles.

“You will be able to work much more as a collaborative team than just as an individual,” said Ralph Eucher, vice president of the Principal Group.

Principal executives said thanks to mobile computers, a desk is no longer the only or the ideal spot for work. And they are betting millions of dollars that this is the future.

“This is our corporate headquarters, this is our heritage. Our first choice was to make this reinvestment here and we and we're delighted that's what we'll be doing,” said Eucher.

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